The governor of Utah is the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

UT Const. art. VII, § 5 and the commander-in-chief of its

military forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws as well as the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the

Utah Legislature The Utah State Legislature is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. It is a bicameral body, comprising the Utah House of Representatives, with 75 state representatives, and the Utah Senate, with 29 st ...

. The governor may also convene the legislature on "extraordinary occasions". The self-proclaimed

State of Deseret The State of Deseret (modern pronunciation , contemporaneously , as recorded in the Deseret alphabet spelling 𐐔𐐯𐑅𐐨𐑉𐐯𐐻) was a proposed U.S. state, state of the United States promoted by leaders of the Church of Jesus Chri ...

, precursor to the organization of the

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th st ...

, had only one governor,

Brigham Young Brigham Young ( ; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until h ...

. Utah Territory had 15

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

governors from its organization in 1850 until the formation of the state of Utah in 1896, appointed by the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. John W. Dawson had the shortest term of only three weeks and Brigham Young, the first territorial governor, had the longest term at seven years. There have been 18 governors of the State of Utah, with the longest serving being

Cal Rampton Calvin Lewellyn Rampton (November 6, 1913September 16, 2007) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 11th governor of Utah from 1965 to 1977. With a tenure spanning for 12 years, he is both the longest serving governor of Ut ...

, who served three terms from 1965 to 1977.

Olene Walker Olene Walker (née Smith; November 15, 1930 – November 28, 2015) was an American politician who served as the 15th governor of Utah from 2003 to 2005, succeeding the governorship after Mike Leavitt's resignation. A member of the Republican P ...

served the shortest term, the remaining 14 months of

Mike Leavitt Michael Okerlund Leavitt (born February 11, 1951) is an American politician who served as the 20th United States secretary of health and human services from 2005 to 2009 and the 10th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 200 ...

's term upon Leavitt's resignation to become head of the

Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...

. At the age of 36, Heber Manning Wells was the youngest person to become governor. At the age of 70,

Simon Bamberger Simon Bamberger (February 27, 1845October 6, 1926) was a German-American entrepreneur and politician who served as the fourth governor of Utah (1917–1921) after it achieved statehood from territorial status in 1896. Bamberger retains the disti ...

became the oldest person to be elected, while Olene Walker, at age 72, was the oldest person to succeed to the office. J. Bracken Lee was the most recent of three Governors of Utah who was not a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church), the other two being

(1917–1921) and

George Dern George Henry Dern (September 8, 1872 – August 27, 1936) was a German Americans, German American politician, mining man, and businessman. He co-invented the Holt–Dern ore roasting process and was United States Secretary of War from 1933 to his ...

(1925–1933). Currently, a term of service is set at four years, and there are no overall limits (consecutive or lifetime) to the number of terms one may be elected to serve. Elections for the office of Governor of Utah are normally held in November of the same year as the

United States presidential election The election of the president of the United States, president and Vice President of the United States, vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are Voter registration in the United ...

. The current governor is

Spencer Cox Spencer James Cox (born July 11, 1975) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2021 as the 18th governor of Utah. A member of the Republican Party, he served from 2013 to 2021 as the eighth lieutenant governor of Utah. In Fairview, ...

, who took office on January 4, 2021. Governor Cox was elected in November

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Qualifications

Anyone who seeks to be elected Governor of Utah must meet the following qualifications: *Be at least 30 years old *Be a resident of Utah for at least five years on the day of the election *Be a United States citizen *Be a qualified elector of Utah at the time of election

List of governors

The area that became Utah was part of the

Mexican Cession The Mexican Cession () is the region in the modern-day Western United States that Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United S ...

obtained by the United States on May 19, 1848, in the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...

following the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

State of Deseret

A constitutional convention was convened in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

on March 8, 1849, to work on a proposal for federal recognition of a state or territory. The convention resulted in the provisional

. Deseret claimed most of present-day Utah,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, with parts of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, and

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

was elected governor on March 12, 1849, and the legislature first met on July 2, 1849. The state, having never been recognized by the federal government, was formally dissolved on April 5, 1851, several months after word of the creation of Utah Territory reached Salt Lake City.

Territory of Utah

On September 9, 1850, as part of the

Compromise of 1850 The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five separate bills passed by the United States Congress in September 1850 that temporarily defused tensions between slave and free states during the years leading up to the American Civil War. Designe ...

was organized, encompassing roughly the northern half of Deseret. The news did not reach

until January 1851. Governors of the Utah Territory were appointed by the president of the United States, and other than Brigham Young, they were frequently considered

carpetbagger In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical pejorative used by Southerners to describe allegedly opportunistic or disruptive Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War and were pe ...

patronage appointees.

State of Utah

The State of Utah was admitted to the Union on January 4, 1896. The governor has a four-year term, commencing on the first Monday of the January after an election. The

Constitution of Utah The Constitution of the State of Utah defines the basic form and operation of state government in Utah. History Utahns had drafted seven previous constitutions starting in 1849 as part of repeated attempts to become a state. In 1850, the fede ...

originally stated that, should the office of governor be vacant, the power be devolved upon the Secretary of State, but the office of

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

was created in 1976, and a 1980 constitutional amendment added it to the constitution. If the office of governor becomes vacant during the first year of the term, the lieutenant governor becomes governor until the next general election; if it becomes vacant after the first year of the term, the lieutenant governor becomes governor for the remainder of the term. The offices of governor and lieutenant governor are elected on the same

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a to ...

. The Governor of Utah was formerly limited to serving three terms, but all term limit laws were repealed by the Utah Legislature in 2003; Utah is one of the few states where gubernatorial term limits are not determined by the constitution.

Notes

References

;General * * * * * * * ;Specific

External links

Office of the Governor of Utah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Utah, List Of Governors Of Lists of state governors of the United States * Governors of Utah Governors of Utah Territory